4/12 Pumba AMPS 369 -- +3 342 -- +9 320 -- PMPS 372

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Pumbaa

Pumbaa

Member Since 2012
Pumbaa got his first 1-unit dose of Lantus last night. Both of his BG tests yesterday were 312, and they were both taken before eating.

I was very surprised this morning to see him at 369, which is the highest reading he's ever had.

Could the 1-unit dose be too high for him?

He's been on low-carb canned and raw food (no kibble what-so-ever) since 4/3/12, the day of his diagnosis.

I'll try to test him in 2-hour increments today. I don't want to deal with a hypoglycemic episode within 24 hours of his receiving his first dose, that is for sure!
 
Re: 4/12 Pumba AMPS 369 - question

It isn't unusual to see higher readings when you first start out with Lantus as it works off a shed or depot that needs to build up before he can start using the insulin to bring down his BGs. The shed is kind of a time released thing and rather hard to wrap the brain around. But it takes about 3-5 days to see what real action you are going to get from a particular dose. Which is why we hold a dose for several days before going up or down unless of course you get a really low number when testing.

Not only does the shed have to build up but their bodies also have to get use to fact that it is getting insulin in the first place. I know with both of my diabetics at first they seemed like their bodies fought against the help from the insulin but in a few days they adjusted and in Maxwell's case went off insulin altogether, Musette on the other hand is still insulin dependent but is working hard to keep me reducing her dose and I have hopes that one day she too will no longer need shots twice a day. :-D

Patience is the key when it comes to both Lantus and Levemir.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Re: 4/12 Pumba AMPS 369 - question

Yeah, when you first start, there's going to be some upheaval in the cat's body, and you do need to give the shed time to fill so your doing a curve today is a great idea as it will calm your worries or confirm your suspicion that the 1u is too high... hey you never know!

If Pumba has been in the 300s for a long time (cats are sneaky and hide how they feel so some cats have likely been in high numbers for some time), the first few shots are likely to take him into better numbers, and his body says WHAT???? and scoots up a bit.

Just let the whole thing settle, watch how Pumba is acting, and the curve will add more info for you.
The majority of the time, cats will act better before their numbers get better, so watch for any changes in eating and habits and litter box use, etc, and make notes on your ss with that info. It will help you later on.
 
Re: 4/12 Pumba AMPS 369 - question

Thank you, Mel and Gayle. I was looking at other people's spreadsheets to see if this was normal, but, as the saying goes, "every cat is different".

I made sure Pumbaa ate lots of food this morning (low-carb, protein rich) after his shot, just in case the dose is too high for him.

Time to go and do vampire duty again. *LOL*
 
Re: 4/12 Pumba AMPS 369 -- +3 342 --

Just wanted to drop in and say hi and welcome to "relaxed" lantus land! Kitten and I just celebrated his OTJ party a couple of weeks ago...and the people here to thanks. Their advice and support is absolutely fantastic!
 
Re: 4/12 Pumba AMPS 369 -- +3 342 --

Thank you, Lil and Kit! Congratulations on his being OTJ! Hopefully Pumbaa and I will be celebrating that one of these days, too!

BTW, I have an absolute SLEW of friends in the Toronto area and have spent many happy hours in the GTA!
 
With the way Pumbaa's BG numbers have gone up, at least I know that I've been injecting the Lantus correctly! :)
 
You are doing just fine and from the looks of those numbers, it's a nice little curve for only the 2nd cycle.
Let's hope you you continue to get slightly improved numbers on the next few cycles.
Give the 1u a chance to settle, and the shed to fill. Then if still not below 300s at the low point in the cycle, you will be ready for an increase.

How's Pumba doing, aside from the numbers. Are you seeing a bit of an improvement in any ways?
 
Thank you for the words of encouragement, Gayle! I don't have any others to talk to, locally, about this, who don't just roll their eyes and tune me out. *LOL*

I'm encouraged because Pumbaa went down to 182 at +5 last night! But I didn't like seeing his 413 AMPS reading this morning.

How is Pumba doing? First of all, he's a little champ letting my poke him all the time, and putting up with my fussing over him. I've found if I put a bowl of sardines (packed in water, no salt) in front of him when I'm testing, he still wiggles a bit, but I can get the test done. I hope he doesn't decide some day that the sardines aren't a good enough treat and starts demanding caviar! *LOL* He's not eating as voraciously as he did before I took away the dry food and the high-carb canned food and got him on low-carb foods, so that is a good sign, as well. He's sleeping a lot, but, he's a cat! He always slept a lot! *LOL* He's peeing and pooping just fine. Hope I can catch him mid-stream today and do another urine test. I weigh him every day, and while he's not losing any more weight, I'll be happy when he puts a little back on. And, he's not as "needy" as he was before the DX...poor baby was just trying to get my attention and let me know something was wrong before I recognized anything was wrong. Now he's back to being Mr. Independent, "I'll come to you when I decide it's time". When he comes into my office and sweeps every pen and little item off my desk and onto the floor, I'll know he's totally back to normal!
 
And there you have it. You are getting your cat back, slowly but surely.

The food has helped I am sure, and holding the dose a bit longer has shown you that the shed's filling and you are about to get some more nice numbers. That pop up to the 400 was Pumba's way of saying WHOA what was that 180 thing? It felt wrong!

But that's OK; in time, Pumba will visit the lower numbers more often and stick around there for longer. Over time, you will start to see the colors shift on the ss.. a little more yellow and blue and no black and less pink. Then you wait to see a couple green numbers poke in and then more of them, plus less pink and more blue/yellow.

It won't happen overnite, but keep watching for signs from Pumba, who IS the boss, after all!
 
Gayle: Thank you SOOOOO much for explaining the 413 and the rest of the numbers in terms even I can understand! :) And that these numbers are normal. I am very encouraged, that is for sure!
 
Even as long as Musette and I have been at this she still likes to throw me higher numbers after a run of good ones. Like yesterday she stayed in the greens all day then today her body went WTH? That felt wrong and she popped up into the 300s but this is happening less frequently, before it would happen if she barely touched the green or blues, now it takes a long run in the greens and sometimes several days in the green.

But I know I just have to ride it out and she will come back down and hang around there longer and longer each time. Pumbaa will get there too, remember this isn't a sprint it is a marathon. They didn't become diabetic over night and they aren't going to go OTJ overnight either.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Thank you, Mel. May Musette one day soon stop saying WTH and stay in the nice low numbers for quite some time!

I've always sworn that I was born without the patience gene. I guess I'm going to have to finally learn to be patient. :)
 
Yup, time to find those "Patience Pants" because you'll need to get used to wearing them! lol. I am soooo bad with being patient and it drove me crazy when Kit would bounce -- especially because he would always bounce on Saturdays....it was like his way of saying, "nope, you're not doing a curve on me today...i dont think so!" and wouldn't go down until Sunday night. Ahhh! I'm telling you -- they get it more than we do...lol! :)
 
Lil: Where do you find those "Patience Pants"? Are they only available online? I a full wardrobe of them! *LOL*
 
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